This book opens up horizons for designing innovative supply chains of citrus by-products, taking into consideration the current socio-economic situation of the actors, citrus production and distribution infrastructure, consumer preferences, and digitization progress at farmer and production levels. Moreover, the book aims to facilitate an interdisciplinary and systemic understanding of the challenges and opportunities within citrus supply chains, promoting collaborative efforts towards a more sustainable future. While sustainability in food supply chains is a global concern, the book specifically concentrates on the unique challenges and opportunities faced in the Mediterranean region. The diverse climatic conditions, cultural nuances, and market dynamics in this region require context-specific solutions, making this focus a valuable aspect of the book, while keeping the link to the global view on food supply chains.

The book emphasizes evidence-based practices and encourages readers to implement data-driven approaches to enhance the sustainability, resilience, and circularity of food supply chains. To facilitate the implementation of data-driven solutions, the authors use advanced data analytics methodologies to forecast crop yields accurately (considering local agrometeorological, soil, typology conditions), optimize supply chain processes (traceability of the citrus by-products, enhancement of production processes through technology overhauling), and minimize crop wastage, while opening new markets for citrus by-products. These data-driven solutions empower stakeholders with valuable insights to make informed decisions and achieve operational excellence, meanwhile offering healthy and sustainable nutrition to the consumers.

Beyond theoretical discussions, the book offers practical insights and real-world case studies that highlight successful sustainable practices implemented by various stakeholders in the citrus supply chain. These examples serve as inspirations for readers to initiate positive changes within their own organizations, countries, and cities through implementation of interdisciplinary and systemic transformation pathways within food systems.

Autorentext

Melkonyan-Gottschalk is Professor for Sustainability and Socio-Technical Transformation at Clausthal University of Technology with focus areas in Environmental Economics, Circular Economy, Sustainable Supply Chains and Logistics/Mobility, as well as in Transformation of Urban Regions. Before she took on this professorship, she was Scientific Director of the Center for Logistics and Traffic at the University of Duisburg-Essen, and international consulting expert in the NASA-funded Project on Land-use and Land Cover Changes in South Caucasus, in frames of which she acted at visiting Professor at Oklahoma University. Within the frames of the projects ILoNa "Innovative Logistics for Sustainable Lifestyles", CONUS- "Competence Network of Industrial and Rural Interlinkages", PRIMA-funded ImPULSe "Innovative Citrus By-Products Supply Chain in Mediterranean Area" she and her team carried out sustainability assessments throughout the entire value chain of the modern services for stationary and online commerce, while at the same time considering new business models, like sharing and circular economy, drafting transformation pathways along the entire supply chains. Through the projects on "Economic Assessment of Environmental Impact", funded by NASA; "Climate Mitigation and adaptation strategies" for the cities of Duisburg and Essen, "Essen - Green Capital City of Europe, 2017" as well as Mercator Foundation funded project "NEMO - New Emscher Mobility", Prof. Melkonyan-Gottschalk is working with local governmental authorities, as well as industrial partners to develop collaborative decision support systems for sustainability transition strategies.

Prof. Melkonyan-Gottschalk has completed her habilitation (Venia Legendi) on Climate Change Influences on Economy. She received her PhD at the University of Duisburg-Essen, on the topic "Statistical Analysis of Long-Term Air Pollution in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany". Her Master Thesis was related to mathematical modeling in Macroeconomy, completed at the Yerevan State University, Armenia. Prof. Dr. Melkonyan-Gottschalk has published more than thirty scientific publications and five monographs.

Denis Daus is Researcher and Project Coordinator, currently coordinating an international and interdisciplinary research project at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, focusing on innovations through circular supply chains and sustainable development in the Mediterranean region. His professional path has included roles as a Researcher in supply chain development and strategy at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics, Germany, where he contributed to international and German research and industrial projects on digitalization in sustainable supply chain management. Additionally, Mr. Daus has been involved in teaching and research at TU Dortmund University, Germany, specializing in circular economy and sustainability in supply chains, while supervising bachelor and master theses. Through exchange programs at Chiang Mai University (Thailand), Milwaukee School of Engineering (USA), and a work placement in Singapore, Mr. Daus concluded his studies with two Bachelor (B.SC., B.Sc.) and two Master (M.Eng., M.Sc.) degrees, focusing on logistics engineering, international business, and supply chain management.